PLAY GUIDE
2017
2018
About ATC …………………………………………………………………………………..… 1 Introduction to the Play ………………………………………………………………………... 2 Meet the Playwright ……………………………..…………………………………………….. 2 Meet the Characters ……………………………………………….……………………..…… 3 Fairy Tales Through the Ages ……………………………………………………………..……. 4 ATC’s National Latino Playwriting Award ….……………..…………………….………………… 6 Glossary ……………………………………………………………………………………… 7 Discussion Questions & Activities ………………………………………………………………. 11 The River Bride Play Guide by Katherine Monberg, with contributions from ATC Learning & Education staff.
SUPPORT FOR ATC’S LEARNING & EDUCATION PROGRAMMING HAS BEEN PROVIDED BY: APS
Rosemont Copper
Arizona Commission on the Arts
Stonewall Foundation
Bank of America Foundation
Target
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona
The Boeing Company
City of Glendale
The Donald Pitt Family Foundation
Community Foundation for Southern Arizona
The Johnson Family Foundation, Inc.
Cox Charities
The Lovell Foundation
Downtown Tucson Partnership
The Marshall Foundation
Enterprise Holdings Foundation
The Maurice and Meta Gross Foundation
Ford Motor Company Fund
The Max and Victoria Dreyfus Foundation
Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Foundation
The Stocker Foundation
JPMorgan Chase
The WIlliam L. and Ruth T. Pendleton Memorial Fund
John and Helen Murphy Foundation
Tucson Medical Center
National Endowment for the Arts
Tucson Pima Arts Council
Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture
Wells Fargo
PICOR Charitable Foundation
ABOUT ATC Under new leadership, and now celebrating its 51st season, Arizona Theatre Company boasts the largest subscriber base of any performing arts organization in Arizona, with more than 130,000 people each year attending performances at the historic Temple of Music and Art in Tucson, and the elegant Herberger Theater Center in downtown Phoenix. Each season of carefully selected productions reflects the rich variety of world drama – from classic to contemporary plays, from musicals to new works – as audiences enjoy a rich emotional experience that can only be captured through the power of live theatre. Touching lives through the power of theatre, ATC is the preeminent professional theatre in the state of Arizona. Under the direction of Artistic Director David Ivers in partnership with Managing Director Billy Russo, ATC operates in two cities – unlike any other League of Resident Theatres (LORT) company in the country. ATC shares the passion of the theatre through a wide array of outreach programs, educational opportunities, access initiatives, and community events. Through the schools and summer programs, ATC focuses on teaching Arizona’s youth about literacy, cultural development, performing arts, specialty techniques used onstage, and opens their minds to the creative power of dramatic literature. With approximately 450 Learning & Education activities annually, ATC reaches far beyond the metropolitan areas of Tucson and Phoenix, enriching the theatre learning experience for current and future audiences. Mr. Ivers and Mr. Russo continue to work on strategic planning, creative thinking, and adventurous programming all aimed at serving the current mission:
To inspire, engage and entertain - one moment, one production and one audience at a time.
The Temple of Music and Art, the home of ATC shows in downtown
The Herberger Theater Center, ATC’s performance venue in downtown
Tucson.
Phoenix.
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INTRODUCTION TO THE PLAY The River Bride By Marisela Treviño Orta Directed by Kinan Valdez Winner of ATC’s 2013 National Latino Playwriting Award Once upon a time, in a fishing village along the Amazon, there lived two sisters struggling to find their happily-ever-after. Helena is dreading her sister, Belmira’s, wedding. The groom, Duarte, should have been hers! And she knows that her sister only wants to escape their sleepy Brazilian town for an exciting new life in the city. But three days before the wedding, fishermen pull a mysterious stranger out of the river – a man with no past, who offers both sisters an alluring, possibly dangerous future. Brazilian folklore and lyric Show art by Esser Design.
storytelling blend into a heartrending tale of true love, regret, transformation, and the struggle to stay true to your family while staying true to oneself.
MEET THE PLAYWRIGHT Marisela Treviño Orta is an award-winning playwright in her third year of study at the Iowa Playwrights Workshop. Her plays include: American Triage, Braided Sorrow (2006 Chicano/Latino Literary Prize in Drama, 2009 Pen Center USA Literary Award in Drama), Ghost Limb (2017 Brava Theater world premiere), Heart Shaped Nebula (2015 Shotgun Players world premiere), and Woman on Fire (2016 Camino Real Productions world premiere). Currently, she is working on a cycle of fairy tales inspired by Latinx mythology, which includes The River Bride (2016 Oregon Shakespeare Festival world premiere), Wolf at the Door, and Alcira. Most recently, Marisela presented her new play Shoe at the Kennedy Center as part of the National New Play Network’s MFA Playwrights Week. She is an alumna of the Playwrights Foundation’s Resident Playwright Initiative, a founding member of the Bay Area Latino Theatre Artists Network, and a Steering Committee member of the Latinx Playwright Marisela Treviño Orta.
Theatre Commons.
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MEET THE CHARACTERS
Actor Paula Rebelo, who plays
Actor Sarita Ocón, who plays Helena
Actor Leandro Cano, who plays
Belmira in ATC’s production of
in ATC’s production of
Señor Costa in ATC’s production of
The
The River
River Bride.
Bride.
The River Bride.
Actor Sean Burgos, who plays
Actor Dena Martinez, who plays
Actor Hugo E. Carbajal, who plays
Duarte in ATC’s production of
Señora Costa in ATC’s production of
Moises in ATC’s production of
The River Bride.
River Bride.
River Bride.
The
The
Belmira: Beautiful and impulsive, charming and adored by her community, Belmira is 16 and about to be married, eager for adventure. Helena: A smart, beautiful young woman of 18, sister to Belmira. Señor Costa: A local fisherman, and father to Belmira and Helena. Duarte: A young man in his early 20s, and Belmira’s betrothed. Señora Costa: Mother to Belmira and Helena, and wife of Señor Costa. Moises: A charming and mysterious stranger, dressed like a man of property, handsome and earnest in manner. 3
FAIRY TALES THROUGH THE AGES Folklorists and storytellers point to fairy tales as some of the oldest stories known to humankind, whose traditions of adventure, morality, and magic reach forward through time to leave their mark on the very stories that artists and writers craft in the present day. Throughout the centuries, new associations give rise to new layers of meaning, adding to the collective understanding of fairy tales as a genre – for example, The Walt Disney company, now thought of as an iconic identity in fairy tale lore, was only founded in 1923, but can trace its storytelling roots to a much older narrative tradition.
A 2016 study published in the Royal Society Open Source journal compared folk tales across cultures to analyze their relationships, and identified familiar fairy tales that date as far back as the Bronze Age – before the earliest literary records. The familiar tale known as Jack and the Beanstalk can be traced back to a folk story that is more than 5,000 years old, while Beauty and the Beast and Rumpelstiltskin can be traced back to the next millennia –
Sarita Ocón and Paula Rebelo in ATC’s production of
The River Bride.
Photo by Tim
Fuller.
before the English, French, and Italian languages even existed. There are some hallmark occurrences of fairy tales that scholars and folklorists identify as major milestones in the evolution of the genre, specifically the publication of Charles Perrault’s Tales of Olden Times (1697) and the Grimm Brothers’ Children’s and Household Tales from the first half of the 19th century. While these collections are often noted for their harsh treatment of their characters, these stories served a dual purpose as morality lessons for children of the era, to encourage good behavior through the fear of negative consequences.
While these are some of the best-known published records of fairy tales, the genre also existed simultaneously in verbal narratives told throughout the world, often appearing more frequently in highly trafficked locations, like pilgrimage sites and harbor cities, where travelers would gather. Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen, Scotland’s Walter Scott, and Russia’s Alexander Afanasyev all developed stories with fairy tale characteristics.
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More recent years have seen fairy tale developments parallel the development of new media, as companies like Disney and Pixar began to mine the fairy tale canon for inspiration. Though some details, and sometimes major plot points, are occasionally redesigned to appeal to lucrative mass entertainment opportunities, many are still identifiable as ancient fairy tales through their structural and thematic characteristics, and can be traced back to myths and popular legends of bygone eras. Typically, a fairy tale is a short narrative that is often familiar to its audience, and related to the axioms and wisdom of the regional and generational context. They are generally accessible in tone and content, having emerged from an oral tradition before widespread literacy, and are noted to combine familiar plots, characters, devices, and images much in the same way that traditional Commedia dell’arte performers used archetypal characters and situations to help an audience quickly and easily understand a story. Fairy tale elements are noted in some of the most enduring stories in Western literature, including Aesop’s fables from the 6th century BC, Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, and many of Shakespeare’s plays, all of which were designed to appeal to general audiences. The association between fairy tales and children’s literature is a social construction that only emerged in the 19th and 20th centuries, adding a new wholesome quality to the genre that began to incorporate less violence and sexuality than the fairy tales of previous Hugo E. Carbajal and Sarita Ocón in ATC’s production of
The
centuries.
River Bride. Photo by Tim Fuller.
The building blocks of fairy tales often include certain types of characters – royalty, elves, giants, animals that talk – and combine them with recurring motifs and symbols, like magic rings, flying carpets, or mirrors, that have taken on mythical identities in the imagination. The symbolism of fairy tales often utilizes strong imagery to evoke strong emotion and contrast, eliciting understanding on a subconscious, emotional level in addition to flowing verbal communication. Also known as “wonder tales” in the German take on the term, the genre at its core is an assortment of elements that evoke the imagination, and encourage a sense of escapism and magicality that supercede the physical laws of the real world. The stories themselves are driven by a sense of wonder, curiosity, and suspense that drive the plot forward and promote investment in the situation, the characters, their decisions, and the enticing potential of a world that is both familiar and yet, more magical, than the one in which we live. 5
ATC’S NATIONAL LATINO PLAYWRITING AWARD Marisela Treviño Orta’s The River Bride was the 2013 winner of Arizona Theatre Company’s annual National Latino Playwriting Award, developed by Artistic Director Emeritus David Ira Goldstein and ATC’s Playwright-in-Residence Elaine Romero to celebrate and spread awareness of the high caliber of work being created by Latino playwrights across the nation. Now in its 22nd year, the National Latino Playwriting Award has been honored to help promote incredible plays and playwrights throughout the world. Productions of past winning scripts have been seen off-Broadway, in London, on the ATC stage, and in regional theatres across the U.S. and Mexico. Submissions for the 2018 National Latino Playwriting Award are currently open – visit the ATC website for more information about the Award and the submission process: http://www.arizonatheatre.org/national-latino-playwriting-award/.
The Company of ATC’s The River Bride with director Kinan Valdez (center front). Photo by Tim Fuller.
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GLOSSARY Portuguese A mão, filho: A hand, son (asking for assistance). A minha e eu: Me and mine (as in my wife). A minha mulher: My woman . Amor: Love, darling. Amor meu: My love. Ao seu serviço: At your service. Boa tarde: Good afternoon. Boto: Dolphin. Chega: That’s enough.
The Company in rehearsal for Arizona Theatre Company’s The River Bride. Photo by Tim Fuller.
Claro que sim: Yes/of course (emphatic). Comadres: Close friends. E um milagre: It’s a miracle. Encantado: Delighted (as in, “delighted to meet you”). Então me diga: Then tell me. Filha: Daughter. Gatinho lindo: Handsome man/handsome one. Irmã: sister. Irmãzinha: Little sister. 7
Mãe: Mother/mom. Menininha: Little girl. Muito bem: Well done. Nada: Nothing. Nossa senhora: Our lady (referring to the Virgin Mary). Olha: Consider or note an idea. Onde estavas: Where are you? Pai: Father.
Hugo E. Carbajal, Paula Rebelo, and director Kinan Valdez in rehearsal for ATC’s The River Bride. Photo by Tim Fuller.
Pirarucu: One of the largest freshwater fish in the world. Qual é o problema: What’s the matter?/what’s wrong? Quem sabe: Who knows? Querida/o: dear/darling. Senhor: Mister. Te acalma: Calm down.
English A man of his word: A person who keeps their promises. Adept: Skilled or especially proficient at something. Arsenal: A collection of weapons, arms, and resources stored by a person, group, or country. Ashore: To move toward land or the shore from the direction of the sea. Balmy: Pleasantly warm.
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Sarita Ocón and Hugo E. Carbajal in rehearsal for ATC’s The River Bride. Photo by Tim Fuller.
Confide: To tell someone a secret or about a private matter while trusting their discretion. Despise: To feel contempt or a deep repugnance for someone or something. Discerning: Demonstrating or having good judgment. Disingenuous: Insincere, untruthful, false, or deceitful. Dissolve: To disappear or subside.
The horizon.
Embrace: A hug, or to hold someone closely in one’s arms, especially as a sign of affection. Entreat: To beg, or ask someone earnest and anxiously to do something. Feat: An achievement that requires great strength of courage, skill, will,
Image displaying the horizon, where the water appears to meet the sky in the distance.
or muscle. Gracious: Courteous, kind, and pleasant. Horizon: The line at which the earth’s surface and the sky appear to meet. Impart: To bestow, share, or make information known. Impulsive: Acting or done without forethought or contemplation of the possible consequences. Intervene: To come between so as to interrupt, prevent, or alter a course of events. Pier: A platform that leads out from the shore into a body of water, usually supported on pillars or girders, and used as a landing stage for boats. Reverberate: To have continuing and serious effects, or to echo. Scuff: A scrape on a surface caused by brushing against something. 9
A pier, stretching out into the water.
Silt: Fine sand, clay, or other material carried by running water and deposited as sediment, especially in a channel or harbor. Solitude: The state or situation of being alone. Speculate: To form a theory about a subject without firm evidence. Tally: To count, as will tally marks. Tan your hide: To beat or flog someone, sometimes used figuratively to threaten sever punishment. Unease: Anxiety or discontent. Sediment from a river, also known as silt.
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DISCUSSION QUESTIONS & ACTIVITIES Discussion Questions 1. The River Bride was inspired by folklore, mythology, and fairy tales. What are some of your favorite fairy tales, folk stories, and myths? Why? 2. Do you believe fairy tales should always have happy endings? Why or why not? 3. The River Bride is based on a Latino fairy tale about pink river dolphins in the Amazon. Research the origin story and discuss how this production adapts the story to fit the play. What are the similarities? What are the differences? 4. This story navigates through lots of conflict. How do you navigate through conflict in your own life? 5. Marisela TreviĂąo Orta is a modern poet in addition to her career as a playwright. Discuss the poetic imagery of the dialogue and language in this play. Are there particular lines or moments that stood out at you? Why? 6. Love can be a complicated experience. Why are we so protective of ourselves and our hearts? Should we be vulnerable or continue to protect ourselves? How can we be both brave and vulnerable? 7. How do you stay true to yourself and dreams while still staying true to your family, background, and culture? 8. Which character did you connect with the most and why? 9. How do the characters change throughout the play? What characteristics indicate these changes?
Activities 1. Have students choose a folktale or fairy-tale from their own heritage and write a short play as an adaptation of that story. 2. Fairy tales often involve non-human characters such an animals, elves, giants, creatures in disguise, or other magical beings. The actors playing such roles have to explore how physicality shapes these characters. Have your students walk around the room acting as wild animals and magical beings. Discuss how their physicality changes for each character.
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3. Every culture has stories that have been passed down for generations; these stories both reflect and shape the values and traditions of a culture. Have your students research their own cultural heritage and create a presentation for the class about the stories they discover. 4. The characters in The River Bride make some very difficult decisions and navigate a lot of conflict. Divide students into pairs and have each student choose a moment that they found interesting in the play. Each partner should do an improvisation of the scene, but explore what would happen if the characters made different choices.
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